こんばんは

So, the time for a new post has come. I've decided that I want to make a list of all the new, interesting facts that I've learned about Japanese language and culture since coming to Columbia. Please enjoy!

1) おじぎ: I already knew that the Japanese bow to each other, but I didn't know the details--the placement of hands for men (sides) vs. women (front) and the face that you do not want to make eye contact as you bow.
2) Exclamation points: I was surprised to learn that formal writing in Japanese never includes exclamation points. They tend to be rare in formal English writing as well, but nevertheless they are definitely present, even in academic papers.
3) にほんごのLabはsexistえす!! I know that Japanese culture tends to be very patriarchal/male-oriented, but it was simultaneously hilarious and annoying to see that come out even in the Language Lab work. In our very first session, when we were practicing common phrases, a woman's voice would read out the phrases that we were supposed to repeat like, "arigatou gozaimasu--polite way to say thank you." But then, when we reached how to say "thank you to a subordinate--arigatou," a male voice appeared out of nowhere in order to read that one phrase! The implication that men will be the ones thanking subordinates was so blatant that I actually laughed out loud (lol'd) in the middle of the language lab. ひどいですね...
4) The workers at the elevator in the department stores: my aunt actually mentioned them the other day when she was talking about the time she spent in Japan. She thought it was a very interesting custom--it seemed very foreign to her, since she felt that people should be capable of just pressing the elevator buttons by themselves haha.

ええと...those are all the ones that I can remember for now, but more to come later!

じゃまたあした！

Introduction

Q: Why do you want to take Japanese?

A: I've been fascinated by Japanese culture ever since middle school, and am now considering a major in EALAC. I have never been to Japan, and I want very much to study abroad there. I'm very excited to be taking Japanese because I don't want to go to Japan without being able to speak the language--it feels like cheating, or like I won't get the full experience.

Q: What has excites and/or frustrates you about Japanese?

A: Although I'd obviously like to be fluent in Japanese, my more short-term goal (well, maybe more like mid-term goal? less long-term goal?) is to be able to read manga in Japanese and understand anime without subtitles. I first became interested in Japan because of manga/anime, so it would be a great way of seeing how I've progressed. As for what I find frustrating...I guess learning the writing was more difficult than I had anticipated, partially simply because we move so fast. I actually so far have found hiragana to be more challenging to learn than Chinese characters (I used to take Chinese). I think it's because what helped me remember characters was that they each had a meaning; they meant something. Hiragana on the other hand, looks to a Western-raised brain like a character, and yet in terms of how it works, it is more comparable to an English-style letter, because it is phonetically based, rather than meaning-based. I think I almost have it down now though... ^_^

はじめまして！

はじめまして！Hirsch Lauren です。これはわたしの にほんごのブログです。わたしは Columbia だいがくのーねんせいです。じゅうななさいです。わたしはアメリカじんです。San Francisco からきました、でもわたしのおかあさんはMalaysiaじんです。どうぞよろしくおねがいします。すみません、わたしはおもしろくありません！>.<

さようなら！

Lauren